Comparison of indigenous and foreign cattle for beef production at Matopos Research Station in Zimbabwe

Cattle breeds regarded as indigenous to Zimbabwe include the Mashona, Tuli and Nkone. History of the breeds, their development and promotion, and development of breed societies for each breed is described by Harvey (1987). Since commercial livestock production was introduced in Zimbabwe in the early...

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Main Author: Mpofu, N.
Format: Case Study
Language:Inglés
Published: International Livestock Research Institute 2002
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/3521
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author Mpofu, N.
author_browse Mpofu, N.
author_facet Mpofu, N.
author_sort Mpofu, N.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Cattle breeds regarded as indigenous to Zimbabwe include the Mashona, Tuli and Nkone. History of the breeds, their development and promotion, and development of breed societies for each breed is described by Harvey (1987). Since commercial livestock production was introduced in Zimbabwe in the early colonial period, both the breeding policy and beef production have been based on the use of exotic breeds. The reason given was that the indigenous breeds were not productive and could not support commercial beef production. However, exotic breeds brought in from Europe were not well adapted to local production conditions and their performance was generally unsatisfactory when compared with their performance in Europe. In 1933, problems associated with the use of exotic breeds and the necessity to come up with a different breeding policy for the country was pointed out by Harvey (1987). He also pointed out the need to investigate the possibilities of evolving an indigenous or crossbred type of cattle more suited to ranching conditions in Zimbabwe than are the imported breeds. A large experiment was initiated at Matopos Research Station in 1938, the objective being to define a suitable breeding system for the improvement of exotic and indigenous cattle. Since that time, breed evaluation work has continued at the Matopos Research Station.
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spelling CGSpace35212025-11-04T16:49:33Z Comparison of indigenous and foreign cattle for beef production at Matopos Research Station in Zimbabwe Mpofu, N. animal breeding training Cattle breeds regarded as indigenous to Zimbabwe include the Mashona, Tuli and Nkone. History of the breeds, their development and promotion, and development of breed societies for each breed is described by Harvey (1987). Since commercial livestock production was introduced in Zimbabwe in the early colonial period, both the breeding policy and beef production have been based on the use of exotic breeds. The reason given was that the indigenous breeds were not productive and could not support commercial beef production. However, exotic breeds brought in from Europe were not well adapted to local production conditions and their performance was generally unsatisfactory when compared with their performance in Europe. In 1933, problems associated with the use of exotic breeds and the necessity to come up with a different breeding policy for the country was pointed out by Harvey (1987). He also pointed out the need to investigate the possibilities of evolving an indigenous or crossbred type of cattle more suited to ranching conditions in Zimbabwe than are the imported breeds. A large experiment was initiated at Matopos Research Station in 1938, the objective being to define a suitable breeding system for the improvement of exotic and indigenous cattle. Since that time, breed evaluation work has continued at the Matopos Research Station. 2002 2011-04-25T19:44:04Z 2011-04-25T19:44:04Z Case Study https://hdl.handle.net/10568/3521 en Open Access application/pdf International Livestock Research Institute Mpofu, N. 2002. Comparison of indigenous and foreign cattle for beef production at Matopos Research Station in Zimbabwe. AGTR Case Study. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI.
spellingShingle animal breeding
training
Mpofu, N.
Comparison of indigenous and foreign cattle for beef production at Matopos Research Station in Zimbabwe
title Comparison of indigenous and foreign cattle for beef production at Matopos Research Station in Zimbabwe
title_full Comparison of indigenous and foreign cattle for beef production at Matopos Research Station in Zimbabwe
title_fullStr Comparison of indigenous and foreign cattle for beef production at Matopos Research Station in Zimbabwe
title_full_unstemmed Comparison of indigenous and foreign cattle for beef production at Matopos Research Station in Zimbabwe
title_short Comparison of indigenous and foreign cattle for beef production at Matopos Research Station in Zimbabwe
title_sort comparison of indigenous and foreign cattle for beef production at matopos research station in zimbabwe
topic animal breeding
training
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/3521
work_keys_str_mv AT mpofun comparisonofindigenousandforeigncattleforbeefproductionatmatoposresearchstationinzimbabwe